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Theory
of Reasoned Action
Theory
of Reasoned Action
Relationship
of Behavioral Intention to Behavior
Evaluation
Glossary
References
Self-Test
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Relationship
of Behavioral Intention to Behavior
The
theory of Reasoned Action adds a new variable between
attitudes (and norms) and behavior: behavioral intent. An
important question, therefore, is how does behavioral intent
relate to behavior? Reasoned
Action states that three factors influence whether (or how
much) behavioral intent shapes our behavior. First, as
suggested above, we must have control over our behavior
(volitional control). If I am broke, I cannot go to the movies
with my girlfriend. My attitude (and norms of others) may lead
me to want very much to teach at Harvard, but I cannot make
them hire me. Because our society in may ways is cooperative,
we do not always get what we want (what our attitudes lead us
to desire and what norms suggest we should want) because we
just do not have complete control over our environment.
A second reason why behavioral intent may not yield the
expected behavior is that attitudes and behavior must be
measured at the same level. If my intent is to buy a new car
I may not buy a Ford Mustang. So the fact that I did not
purchase a Mustang does not show that my behavioral intent did
not affect my behavior (I could have bought a Chevrolet). If I
want to go to college I might not attend the University of Southern California. Again, knowing that I did not go to USC is not a reason to think that
my behavioral intent had no influence on my behavior; I may
attend the University
of California,
Los Angeles.
This may seem somewhat silly, but some researchers thought
that they found that behavioral intent did not influence
behavior because they did not measure intent and behavior
correctly. For example, in one study behavioral intent (or
attitude) was measured by asking a group of people if they
like snakes. Everyone said no, indicating a negative attitude.
Then these people were asked if they would like to touch a
snake, and many did so. The researchers concluded that those
who did touch the snake were inconsistent, because the engaged
in a behavior (touching a snake) that was inconsistent with
their attitude (not liking snakes). However, this behavior
(touching a snake) is not a good indicator of their attitude.
Perhaps they were curious to know what snakes (an animal they
did not like) felt like. A better behavioral measure would
have been to ask them if they wanted a snake for a pet. It
seems likely that everyone who displayed a negative attitude
(“I don’t like snakes”) would have also had a negative
behavior (“No, I will not take a snake for a pet”). So,
for attitudes or behavioral intent must be measured at the
same level.
Third, we know that attitudes do change over time. Behavioral
intent and behavior must be measured at the same time for us
to expect that they will relate. Reasoned action states that
attitudes, together with subjective norms, determine
behavioral intent. This means that if a person’s attitude
changes, his or her behavioral intent will probably change to.
So, if we learn people’s behavioral intent and then wait to
measure their behavior several weeks or months later, that
behavior may correspond to their current behavioral
intent but not the behavioral intent we learned.
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